


A Moment To Recover

by DespairingPrinceZagreus



Category: Horizon: Zero Dawn (Video Game)
Genre: Cuddling, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Kisses, Mutual Pining, ack they're too cute
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-28
Updated: 2020-10-28
Packaged: 2021-03-09 02:08:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,206
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27247063
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DespairingPrinceZagreus/pseuds/DespairingPrinceZagreus
Summary: This is the first he’s seen her in several months, when she catches his eye from across the marketplace one morning after he’d (unwillingly) dragged himself out of bed for his duties. She hasn’t seen him yet-- but boy, has he seen her. Her laughter is what caught his attention- She’s only talking to a merchant, but she’s so… radiant. Her smile is contagious, it seems. When he sees her, his groggy expression turns into a gentle smile, and even from so far away… she’s captivating. Her hair flows beautifully over her shoulders, and by the sun, her laughter is the most amazing sound he’s ever heard. Before he even realizes it, his heart is pounding against his ribcage, and his cheeks are suddenly hot. He couldn’t help but think about what it would feel like to run his fingers through that beautiful red hair. What her body would feel like against his, how soft her lips were, if she’d fit right in his arms, like she was made to be there. If-In which Erend is head-over-heels, and has such low self-esteem that he doesn't see how much Aloy needs him just as much as he needs her.
Relationships: Aloy/Erend (Horizon: Zero Dawn)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 44





	A Moment To Recover

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first story I'll be posting here. It's been posted to my Tumblr, as will the next one I post. I actually wrote the one that'll be posted later before I wrote this one, but I like how this one turned out far better.

Erend had gotten used to Aloy coming to Meridian for brief visits that’d only last a few days, then leaving for an extended period of time. Often he doubted if she’d keep coming back-- He figured one of these days she’d leave and never come back, off to see and do things bigger, better, and far more important than hanging around with a useless, drunk captain. He’d been waiting for something to go wrong, so he’d have an excuse to throw in the towel, but every time something bad happened, Aloy would show up and blow his mind all over again, and remind him just what was on the line if he gave up. Ersa would be proud of him, she’d once said to him the night she left after a visit, and he’d always forget about it until she came around again, and her words would come back to the forefront of his mind. 

This is the first he’s seen her in several months, when she catches his eye from across the marketplace one morning after he’d (unwillingly) dragged himself out of bed for his duties. She hasn’t seen him yet-- but boy, has he seen her. Her laughter is what caught his attention- She’s only talking to a merchant, but she’s so… radiant. Her smile is contagious, it seems. When he sees her, his groggy expression turns into a gentle smile, and even from so far away… she’s captivating. Her hair flows beautifully over her shoulders, and by the sun, her laughter is the most amazing sound he’s ever heard. Before he even realizes it, his heart is pounding against his ribcage, and his cheeks are suddenly hot. He couldn’t help but think about what it would feel like to run his fingers through that beautiful red hair. What her body would feel like against his, how soft her lips were, if she’d fit right in his arms, like she was made to be there. If-

'No. No, Erend, you stupid fuck. Don’t think like that.' He slapped himself mentally for thinking about her as anything other than his friend. He hated to think of himself as the “nice guy”, because really, he saw himself as a total loser, but Erend Vanguardsman wouldn’t be caught dead disregarding when a girl rejected his advances. He was a lot of things, but disrespectful was not one of them. He just wished he could shake those sorts of thoughts- The thoughts that would come when he lay awake at night unable to sleep. The same thoughts that her laughter and her smile and her freckles and her beautiful green eyes sparked. Those thoughts of holding her close and running his fingers through her hair- thoughts of kissing her over and over and over- they were what kept him hanging onto hope sometimes. Though often they weren’t enough, because he felt as if he could never really have those things. Only just a dream- a nice little fantasy that he thought up to help himself get through life. Nothing more than wishful thinking. 

She finally spots him after he’s been staring at her for All-Mother only knows how long, and she gives him this cute little smile that absolutely melts his heart. Such a simple gesture, but it could bring him to his knees. She’s his only weakness, and he’ll be damned if there’s something he won’t do for her. She makes her way over to him, and his heart rate spikes, and suddenly he’s panicking, trying to figure out what to say to her when she finally reaches him. She stops when she gets to him, smiling up at him as if she’d come back specifically to see him. “Well, hello there, Captain.” her voice is just as smooth and beautiful as he’d remembered, and by the sun, all of her was. Every tiny little detail he’d spent so long admiring- she was just as beautiful as always. Especially her voice. He’d missed her. “It certainly has been a while, hasn’t it?” 

Erend’s heart is beating out of his chest, and he struggles with what to say for a moment. He stands there, breathless, looking down at Aloy. He’d forgotten the effect she seemed to have on him. He, after a long moment, finally takes a deep breath, and her expression changes to mild worry as she raises a brow. “...Yeah. It has, hasn’t it?” This doesn’t quite ease her concern, and her expression softens a bit. “I was starting to wonder if you were even comin’ back.” She chuckles, and her worry sort of fades away, as his nerves do. “Well, Erend, I did tell you I'd always have a minute or two for you. And I meant it.” Erend thinks back on that day, the day she’d saved Meridian. The first time, at least. He really never thought he’d see her again, but he’s definitely glad he did. The first time she’d left Meridian after then, he’d missed her sorely, and he’d never been happier than when she showed up to see him again. 

“Well, it’s good to see you, Aloy.” She smiles at him warmly, and he feels his heart pounding against his chest harder. “Is it weird if I say I missed you?” she chuckles, and then she actually *laughs. She smiles at him much more brightly than before, now looking at him with what he almost wants to hope is admiration. “I don’t think it is.” He can’t help but smile at her as she shifts her weight- she’s antsy. About what, he’s not sure, but then again, she never seemed to be able to stand still for long. He can’t tell for sure, but it seems… different from her normal fidgeting. But maybe, again, it’s just wishful thinking on his part. He finds himself staring at her again, wanting to touch her- to just wrap his arms around her and hold her and bury his face in her hair, to- 

And there he goes again, daydreaming about something he knows he can’t really have. They both fall silent, and it’s clear to both of them that they’ve run out of things to say, but the silence is simultaneously comfortable and awkward, if that’s even possible… So they just stand there. And Aloy, well, she… found that she missed him more than she’d really let him believe she had. She had her fair share of sleepless nights, just lying awake wishing he were there with her, so they could talk or share a drink or even just lay together and stare at the stars until they both drifted off to sleep. Truthfully, if someone were to ask her if she’d thought of kissing him and being held securely in his arms, she would have lied and said no, but she’d have known the truth. She’d lied awake so many nights in her time away, and if asked, she would lie about how many of those nights were spent thinking about Erend’s hands, and his arms, and his lips, and his eyes- and oh how she’d longed to be held by him just as he’d longed to hold her. 

Aloy leaves a week later. She’s gone for nearly four months and visits for a week, then drops off the face of the earth like she never showed up. It’s hard on Erend, as always, but when Aloy shows up at his home in the middle of the night, bloodied and bruised with several open wounds, he’s simultaneously perplexed and happy to see her, but he’s also very, very worried. She’s bleeding, or at least she was, and she could definitely make it worse by delaying care, but she’s here, and she looks as if she’s been crying, and it breaks his heart just as much as it makes him want to find out what exactly happened. Aloy, on the other hand, is in a lot of pain, but in the midst of her adrenaline rush, she doesn’t have the time or energy to care. All that matters is that fuck, she survived getting mauled by a sawtooth, and she’s here because she has no clue what would have happened to Erend if she hadn’t.

She doesn’t say anything, and neither does he, but it isn’t long before something happens. He opens his mouth to speak, but before the words can come out, Aloy has grabbed him by his shirt and pulled him down, closing the distance between them and connecting their lips in what could possibly be the most confusing kiss Erend’s ever experienced. For a moment, all he can really do is try to process what’s happening, and then it hits him that no, this is real, it isn’t some alcohol-induced dream. Her lips are really on his, this is really happening. He’s confused, but he tilts his head and moves his lips against hers in turn, and she sees his reciprocation as permission to continue. It was, and as her hands release his shirt and find his shoulders, his own hands find her waist, and she breaks the kiss to breathe, but only for a split second, and then the distance between them is closed again. 

It’s Erend who finally pulls back, and cringes when she responds with a disappointed whine. He’s still confused, and his heart is once again pounding out of his chest. He stares at her, breathless, and she stares back up at him. “Aloy,” his breaths are jagged and he’s in shock, unsure of what to even really say. “...What- what even-” She silences him with another kiss, this time far more gentle and thoughtful, and he relaxes a little. It doesn’t make him any less confused, and it certainly doesn’t answer any questions, but it’s better than he’d ever imagined it being, and she’s just as satisfied with it as he seems to be, as she pulls back just enough to look at him. “...Aloy, you’re- you’re trembling…” And… that she was. The adrenaline from the sawtooth attack was starting to wear off, and now the pain was starting to catch up with her, and she was still rattled, truthfully. 

“...I was riding a strider down to the water, just to stop and rest for a bit, on my way here. A sawtooth-” she takes a deep, shaky breath, and she realizes that yes, her arms and hands are shaking. A lot. “...Let’s… just say it saw us before we saw it.” He winces, looking over a particularly nasty cut on her cheek, and she can read the concern in his expression. “I’m okay, Erend. Just… a little shaken up, is all.” This time it’s Erend’s move, to initiate another kiss, and by the sun, she likes it so much better when he kisses her first. She melts into him, and her hands come up from his shoulders and cup his face. He kisses the corner of her mouth, then her jaw, then pulls back to look at her. “...Erend, I think… Maybe now would be a good time to tell you I missed you. A lot.” 

He stares at her, and for a split second, he isn’t anxious or worried about crossing a line just by thinking about what it’d be like to be with her. “...I think now would be a good time to tell you,” he kisses her again, pulling his hand up to brush a lock of hair out of her face and tuck it behind her ear. “That I love you.” She smiles a little through her pain, because those words were something that she’d never heard. At least not from someone she actually loved back. And then she whispers back, a faint “I love you too”, and he kisses her once more. Erend puts his hand on her face, brushing his thumb over her cheek, and she smiles just a little wider. “...If you’d like, I can help fix you up. As best as I can, at least, since I might just be the only one that you’d let help.” She kisses him yet again, and in a matter of minutes, she’s now sitting on his couch sipping on some tea while he cleans and individually bandages her wounds. When he’s done, he also pours himself some tea, and then he joins her. She naturally, as if it’s second-nature, scoots closer to him, then sets her tea down and leans against him. 

Soon enough they’re both laid down on the couch-- Erend on his back and Aloy laying on his chest. She’s starting to drift off, and he realizes he’s not far behind her. He grabs the blanket that’s draped over the back of the couch, and as best as he can, covers himself and Aloy, because for as hot as Meridian gets during the day… Nights are cold. She gives a satisfied hum, then snuggles in closer. “...I love you, Erend.” He smiles, and when he speaks, he speaks quietly. “I love you too.” She kisses him one last time, at least for tonight, and then lays her head on his chest. “...Goodnight.” He runs one of his hands through her hair, then kisses her forehead and brushes some of her hair out of her face again. 

“Goodnight, Angel.”


End file.
